Duty & Loyalty
by William McDonald
Summary: Ash, Gary, Brock, and Rishie who were once pokemon masters are now in the middle of a war that has them facing life and death with their fellow brothers in arms.  This is their story.


**x****Duty & Loyalty****x**

This story is a work of fiction

any simularities between charactors and persons is complete coincidenc

Introduction

Eighteen years ago there was a war that engulfed the world. Over twenty million people lost their lives on all sides. Before the war the world was at peace. During this time the Kingdum of Sinnoh and the Johto Republics were very edgy about one another. What started this was thirty years ago during the Johto/Sinnoh war Johto had pushed up north into the Sinnoh territory. At the end of the war Johto refused to hand over Sinnohs land. According to the laws of warfare Johto has the right to claim the territory as their own. This obviously made the Sinnoh people very angry with Johto. They urged the King to force Johto to return their land but the King's royal army was weakend and could not afford to stage another conflict. So thirdy years later Johto has discovered a mass oil field in the same area. Because of the Sinnohs econamy is falling they needed to make a desperate attempt to get their land back and use the oil to bring the people out of the depression. So on June 6, 1978 Sinnoh troops cross over the border and invade Johto. The president of Kanto announced to his people that if Johto would fall to invaders then Sinnoh would move onto Kanto, then Hoenn. And so the president declared war on Sinnoh and sends military forces to Johto. He also requiested help from the island kingdum Hoenn. But the king refused to participate in the war effort. For eleven years the war raged on and on. Up until on the north, the depression began to take more jobs. The money became worthless and people began to steal in order to get food. Also on the front more and more soldiers were being killed and no sign of victory is on the horizen. One day a communist dictator by the name of Alex Peterson rallied a rebal army and attacked the capital. Supprisingly the capital guards did not make an effort to stop them. An hour after the attack the royal family is exicuted by their own personal guards. Early the next day Peterson made a public statement that the war ends now. He presented his partner Fan Zhu to the people and anounced he is the first Prime Minister of the Union of Sinnoh Republics. The Prime Minister did not hesitate to sign a cease-fire treaty with Kanto and Johto. A week later all the troops are withdrawled from the lines and peace is ristored. Even the four leaders of the world meet in a peace ceremony and talked about how they could stop further agression with one another. First Johto agreed to return northern Johto to Sinnoh witch started the war in the first place. Second they decided to perminatly lock away all of their war machines. They could not destroy the weapons because that would take allot of time and money. And so they came uo with the solution to lock them up in the military bases and permanatly close them. Then the age of peace begins. That is what everyone thinks. Prime Minister Zhu had a bigger plan up his sleeve. In northern area of Sinnoh there is a vast tunnel syestem that streches for hundreds of miles. They used this to train their soldiers in secrecy. Also the people of Sinnoh knew that in fighting the two countrys while they were in the depression was a very bad idea. They all decided that they should wait until their econamy is strong enoff so they can be able to fight the war and win. In 2005 locals of northern Kanto and Johto report seeing what apears to be soldiers massing at the border. Before the two governments could varify the reports two million troops poured across the border. Locals in towns and citys flee as they see Sinnoh troops in the horizen. In a matter of two months the entire country of Kanto is conquared by Sinnoh. Not even a week after Johto fell. Millions of refugees fled to Hoenn who openly allowed them into their country. Hoenn had already set up air-air guns on the coasts and prepaired a large naval fleet to prevent invasion. Presidents Ford of Kanto, Lion of Johto, and King James of Hoenn meet to descuss plans for striking back. Old Hoenn war factories are rebuilt and production of weapons and viechles began. Also the three armys have taken in volunteers and started to train them for the up coming invasion. Two years later the preporations for the invasion begin. Back on the continent Sinnoh are aware of the invasion and set of defensive positions on the coast. Back on Hoenn four pokemon masters are old enoff to join the army. One of them said their father was once in the airborne and said they always saw action during the great war. So Ash, Gary, Richie, and Brock all joined the Kanto Airborne.

**x****Operation Spearhead****x**

Over the ocean south-east of Kanto thirty six planes are on route. Each plane is carrying twelve brave paratroopers ready to make the jump into Kanto. They are a part of the Kanto Army's 1st Airborne Division. Inside the middle plane you see twelve young soldiers sitting at the right side of the plane facing the wall in front of them. They are all wearing their light brown uniforms with their combat gear. For the jump they are wearing two parachutes. The main chute is on their back and the back up chute is on the front. Their heads are covered with mud and they are wearing a steel helmat with netting to add camoflauge. Town at the front of the plane, the third man to the last is a young man. He looks like he is only a kid. But they let him join so he must be sixteen. But this young guy is staring strate at the wall. Thinking about the drop. Same as everyone else he is imagining a safe drop. Jump out of the plane, parachute opens. You hit the ground and take your gear. Pull out your rifle and get ready to fight. Thats the procedure he learned in training back at Airborne school. He hopes that this drop wont be his last. He also hopes that everyone makes it out okay. But the reality of war always hits you hard, his dad once said to him when he was a little kid. His dad faught in the first great war in the paratroopers. Before his dad left home when he was small he told him all these storys about him in combat. When he and his friends were going to join he thought they should join the airborne. So here he is. No one in the plane is talking. Mainly because they are told not to so they can hear their sergeant if given orders. From inside they can tell they are close to the drop zone because they can hear flak exploding outside. Flak is fired by a gun called the Flak gun. The large bullet flys to the hight of the planes and explodes in mid air, shooting shrapnel in all directions. If one hits too close to a plane then its all over. The bad side to this is that the pilots have to stay at a solid course in order to insure the paratroopers will drop in the exact location. The red light next to the door starts blinking so the sergeant stands up and faces the soldiers.

" STAND UP!" They all stand up and face him while hooking a wire to a stringe of rope next to them." CHECK YOUR EQUIPMENT!" As ordered they check the gear of the guy in front of them to insure the parachute is ready.

He instructs the troopers that when they land they need to find him as soon as possible. Also if they are lost head to the target area and wait for them. With that said he stands at the opened door and hangs on the side. He keeps his eyes on the blinking red light and waits. At the corner of his eye he sees a plane get hit by a flak and explodes. Debre and dead bodys fall like rocks. The light turns green and so he jumps off the plane. Not even a second after he jumps another soldiers jumps. Then another and another. It finally came to the young guy. He stands at the door and looks out to the sky. Flak explosions, opened parachutes and tracers filled the night sky.

" JUMP ASH JUMP!" The soldier behind him yelled.

Ash jumps out of the plane and his body is jurked back and forth by the forced winds. Soon it calms down and his body is left to drift in the wind. He looked over to see if the other two made it okay. Their both doin fine. Actually they are laughing. This reminded him of back in airborne school when they had to make four sucessfull jumps in order to qualify. As his parachute drifts him closer to the ground he begins to think back...

Three Weeks Earlier... Airborne School, Hoenn

Ash is standing in formation with the rest of the company. The company makes up of three large squads. There are twelve total companys in the 1st Kanto Airborne. Each has their own name according to the letter their given. They are the eigth company in the division and so their letter is H. Their commanding officer or CO of their company gave the name Hawk Company. There are twenty four men in each company. Lucky for Ash his three friends Gary, Brock, and Richie who joined with him are in the same squad. The CO of their company's name is Captain Williams. Cpt. Williams was in the airborne during the last great war. Speeking of the captain he is inspectin the men now. From soldier to soldier he checks every inch of them to see if they are fit to be called paratroopers. For some reason no matter how perfect they are he always finds something wrong with them. The captain has already made it to the third squad and is inspecting Ash's rifle.

" Private Ketchum your rifle is looking good." He said.

" Thank you sir." 

But like everyone else there is something wrong." But you look like you haven't chaved in days. I want to see a clean face tomarrow morning. Got it?"

" Yes sir..."

" I'm sorry I didn't hear you?"

" Yes sir!"

" Good... say is your father Ashton Ketchum?"

" Yes sir."

" Hm thank you private."

The captain moves on to the soldier next to him." Okay private... Brock is it?"

" Yes sir!"

" Private Brock your chevrons look a little crucked. Fix them by tomarrow morning or no chow time for the comapany, understood?"

" Yes sir!"

After he was finished inspecting Richie who was the last in line Williams walked up to the front of the company where Lieutenant Miller is standing at attention. He simply looked at everyones faces and cleary said that they are no where near ready to fight a war let alone become paratoopers. He also said that this is Hawk company, not all those other companys that slack off. Those men he says are going to die because they will not know what to do when the time comes. This is why he is training them all so hard, he wants them to all survive if posible. This made everyone think really hard about what he just said. Even after Williams dismissed them all for evening chow they didn't move for quite some time. Right up until First Sergeant Andrews shuved everyone off. Still even in the mess hall they didn't say a word to each other let alone eat. It seems that what Williams said is really making them think about what they are there for. Ash personally knew exactly why he was there. His friends and family have been pushed away from their homes by the Sinnoh. He joined to liberate his homeland. But he began to wonder if he'll survive the war. Will he be killed in combat? This quiestion went through his mind over and over. Early the next morning what came out from the barracks were not the lost boys from yesterday. What came out were men ready to do their duty. They all got in formation all standing at attention. Cpt. Williams took a slow scan and saw everyone was more than perfect. He could not find one thing that was wrong. This made him give a big smile. Everyone felt really good to see him smile like that. Almost out of words he dismissed them for morning chow. A week later they are onboard a military aircraft ready to make their fourth and last jump that will qualify them as paratroopers. Sucessfully they landed safly. After the ceremony Colonel Johnson the Division commander announced they will be shiped to Kubasov airbase as soon as possible to prepaire for the invasion. Another week later at the airbase the entire division is getting ready. But they still have an hour before they set off. Ash, Richie, Gary, and Brock are standing next to their plane.

" Well this is it." Richie said cheerfully.

" Yeah..." Brock moaned.

" You okay Brock?" Ash.

" Yeah its just that... I'm a litt scared..."

" We're all scared."

" Speek for yourself, bring 'em all on I say!" Gary said.

" Right mister tough guy just don't go and shoot me out there."

" Only if you say please." They all laugh.

An hour and a half later Ash's day dreaming stops when his parachute is caught on a tree. He forgot that his drop zone was in the middle of the forest south of Pallet Town. Trying to unlach the parachute he finally breacks free. Since the parachute is stuck on the branch he cannot hide it. So he'll just have to leave it there. Now its time for him to pull out his rifle. Wait... its gone. It must of fallen off of him when he made the jump. Oh well he still has his .45 pistol. Before going he decides to go over the mission objectives. 1. Head to the air-air and artillary posistion a klick north of the 1st Kanto Infantry Divisions landing zone. 2. Destroy air-air and artillary guns to insure the rest of the invasion goes well. 3. After target area is destroyed move on to Pallet Town and clear them of hosiles. Before heading to the target area he has to find Sgt. Lee. But he has no idea where the sergeant is. So he decided he has to move to the target area alone and wait for them. He remembers there us a trail that will lead to the target area. Holding onto his pistol he slowing walks through the dark forest path. Its so dark that he can only see a couple of feet in front of him. He'll have to rely mostly on his sence of hearing. The forest is very quiet. Probably due to the planes flying buy and the explosions in the sky. He finally reaches the trail. remembering the planes were flying to the right he must go left. Now following the trail his field of view is a little better thanks to the full moon overhead. In the bushes ahead he can hear someone moving. He raises his pistol and aims for the bush.

" Thunder." He hissed to hear a response.

" Lighting who's there?" Someone hissed back.

" Private Ketchum."

Three men walk out of the bushes and step up to him." Its Gary, Tanaka, and Ivankov."

" You guys find the sergeant?"

" No we're heading to the target area."

" Okay I'll go at point you guys stay behind me."

" Okay." Ivankov said moving to the rear.

They line up and begin moving very quietly through the trail. With Ash at point, Gary and Tanaka in the middle and Ivankov at the rear they can keep their eyes all around them. Ivankov with his BAR has to take three or four steps then turn his waist around to look behind them to check thier six. His weapon the BAR is called the Browning Automatic Rifle, it is a squad support machine gun that fires twenty fifty caliber rounds in a single magazine. The weapon is very heavy and is given only to really strong individuals. For Ivankov carrying a BAR is like carrying a baby. He is a native of Sinnoh but his family moved to Kanto to find better jobs. Ivankov has lived in Kanto all his life so he conciders it his home. Tanaka was born in Fuchsia City seventeen years ago. When the Sinnoh army attacked the city his father was killed by falling debre while fleeing to the port. As they get closer to the target area they can see light coming from the camp. They sneak up to the edge of the forest and look on at the camp. There are three big artillary guns seperated fifteen feet apart facing south-east. And there is only two air-air guns at the rear. Ash counts about fifty soldiers are guarding the area. They could not do anything until the rest of the company arived. And so they play the waiting game.

Its now getting lighter with the sun almost coming up. Ash checks his watch, 0547 hours. One hour till the invasion forces storm the beach. Where is the rest of the company. Well they cant wait around too long. Ash has to asses the situation. The rest of the company is either lost or they got hit by a patrol. Also they have less than an hour till the invasion. Tanaka is carrying four sticks of C4 and they all have a sachel. He has to make a decision. Wait for the rest of the company and risk not destroying the targets before the invasion. Or try to destroy the targets and hopefully they will survive till they show up.

" We have no choice. We have to attack now." He whispered.

" What? Are you crazy?"

" Look over there." He points at the trenches twenty yards behind the air-air guns." We can use those trenches as cover while one of use rushes to the artillary posistions with the explosives and sets them up for detonation. I'll be the runner. All you guys have to do is keep my ass covered."

" Ash that is probably one of the most crazyest things you will ever do in your life. But that does sound like it could work." Gary.

" Alright they are all looking away now so lets move."

They all get up from the ground and run as fast as they could to the trenches. A soldier spots them and yells for his comrades to fire. The Sinnoh soldiers grab their guns and begin firing at the paratroopers. Miraculousy they all make it to the trenches unharmed. Ivankov, Tanaka, and Gary begin firing back. Ash asks if anyone has an extra weapon. Tanaka tosses him a Thompson he got off of a dead trooper. They manage to make the enemy take cover and so Ash takes the opertunity and runs his ass off towards the AA guns. Once there he prepared one for detonation. But he had an idea. He took a seat on the AA gun and aimed the crosshair at the first gun. He pulls the trigger and the entire machine shakes as thirdy rounds pumble the artillary peace. Far back to the woods the rest of the company sees this astonding attempt. Cpt. Williams orders his men to open fire. Back at the AA gun Ash shoots more heavy lead at the last gun. The Sinnoh soldiers run for their lives as the artillary peace explodes. Ash jumps out of the machine and sets up the other one for detonation. He pulls the fuse on both of them and runs back to the trenches. In ten seconds the fuse runs out and the AA guns explode. The men in the forest cheer as they see the fireworks. The four guys in the trenchs step out and report to Cpt. Williams.

" Private Ketchum why did you four disobay a direct order to wait until the rest of the company arived before attacking?" He did not sounds agry so Ash gave him a clear answer.

" We waited at the edge of the forest for three hours sir and I was not sure if you'd show in time sir. There was only one more hour till the invasion so I had to make a choice sir."

The captain did not yell or anything he just laughed." Your just like your father. Form up with your squad we're moving onto to Pallet."

" Yes sir."

The four of them formed up with third squad and the company moves out towards Pallet Town. The company formed up in a formation with first squad at the front, second to the left and third to the right. This allowed the company to cover a wide area. Ash is back at the end of the line with Richie and Brock who were amazed by the display they just saw. Brock gave Ash a few magazine for his Thompson. The Thompson is a Sub Machine gun witch fires .45 rounds and holds a twenty to thirdy round staight clip. Mostly officers use it but some paratroopers use them as well. Ash was issued a standerd M1 Garand rifle but lost it during the jump. Lucky for Hawk Company that the enemy in Pallet will not be expecting them. Well thats what intel says though. When they reach the other end of the forest over looking Pallet Town. Ash checks his watch again, it is 0638. The invasion has already started. Cpt. Williams had the machine gunner set up their 30. cals and provide suppressing fire while the rest of the company moves in. As told the MG's set up their 30's and wait for the order. Before going Williams made it clear that once they are inside the town they must clear every house and push the enemy up north to Viridian Forest. And so the captain raises his hand and waves it forward to signal them to go. The machine gunners begin firing rounds at the houses while the soldiers rush down the open field. for a few seconds they did not recieve any fire from the enemy. But the first three houses windows open and machine gun fire is being fired at them. By this time they are less than ten yards from the town. A soldier tosses a grenade into a window and the explosion kills the gunner. Now they are inside the town. Enemy soldiers are running the streets trying to react to the situation. Ash and Brock take cover behind a building wall. Ash peeks out of the corner and sees a huge tank rolling down the street.

" TANK!" He shouts towards Sgt. Lee.

" Private Stone wheres that bazooka!" Sgt. Lee yelled.

" Locked and loaded sir!"

" Then take out that damn tank!"

Stone takes a deep breath while holding onto the bazooka. He jumps out and fires a round straight into the side of the tank. The round pierces the armor and explodes inside. Now that the tank is gone now all they to worry about is the infantry. Ash decides to go around on the other side of the building so he can flank the enemy. Once on the other side he peeks around the corner and sees the enemy are still firing down the street. So he pulls out a grenade and pulls the pin. He tosses it and takes cover. Once it explodes he aimed his weapons around the corner and fired at anyone left standing. A soldier behind him thinks it is clear so he moves up to the corner of the next building and peeks at the corner. Ash starts to move over to the guys posistion. But the wall is blown to hell and he is knocked down on his back. Pulling himself together he stands back up to see the corner is gone. The soldier that was standing there is on the ground. He trys to pick the guy up but he nodices that the kid is dead. So he picks up the guys rifle and moves. Now at the next building he breaks open the door and rushs inside. The living room was clear so he moves on into the kitchen. The food on the table was still warm. Looks like they interuped their breakfust. Since he was hungry he took the cinemon role and eats it. From behind he hears someone.

" Hands up." It is a Sinnoh soldier.

Ash sets his rifle on the table and has his hands up then turns around. The soldier has his rifle pointed at him and he seems very angry. Either it was because of the attack or was it he ate his cinemon role. What ever the reason Ash needed to get out of there. So he waits until the soldier moves closer to cuff him. Once he does so Ash quieckly knocks the rifle off the guys hand and pulls out his fathers trench knife. He uses the brass knuckles on the knife and punches the soldier in the face knocking all of his teeth. Some other guys in his company heard the struggle inside and ran in. But they were a little late. Ash already had the knife sheathed and his rifle in hand.

" Friend of yours Ketchum?" PFC Maynard joked.

" No we just met."

They walked back outside to see that the town was taken. Allot of prisoners were rounded up and plenty of dead bodys filled the streets. Reports from centrol that thanks to their hard work the invasion was a success. Well that was old news because a company from the 1st Kanto Infantry Division arived at the town soon after the attack. They informed them that they division suffered heavy losses on the landing but managed to push through. They even said that it must have been harder for them. The Captain said that it was a cake walk, they only suffered one casualty. It was Pvt. McGuire of first squad. He took a hit by a round from a enemy bazooka while peeking around a corner of a building. He was the first casualty of the war for Hawk Company. But he certanly wont be the last. Command has ordered Hawk Company to press forward into Viridian Forest and make their way to Viridian City. If they liberate Viridian City then the war will be over by Christmas. For some reason Ash finds it hard to believe that this war would end that soon.


End file.
